Here is a link to yet another tree ID site. The descriptions and silvics are general, as there may be several species in each genus. It includes info on end uses , grading by species, staining and physical properties of the wood with sample pictures.

Ok I have a question. Silly as it may sound I never had the chance to saw soft or hard maple. I know what a maple tree is when I see one but not sure if it is a soft or hard..Does one have slick bark and the other have the curly bark? Thanks Fred

We had a discussion on here last winter about tree id by bark. Its hard for me to explain the bark characteristics in your area because of different climate and growing conditions. Many sawyers and log buyers have a trained eye for the different species they saw/purchase in their area of the country. If they go to another region they may get stumped. I once heard of a buyer confusing balsam poplar for red oak. The smell alone would convince me it wasn't oak, but the bark stumped him. He hadn't considered other physical characteristics I guess.

In my area I find mature red maple (white/soft maple) has flaky bark. Red maple suckers very badly from injuries are harvesting, even on very large trees. Sugar maple (rock/hard maple) has white blotches in the bark. Mature sugar maple don't sucker much, young trees do better at suckering.

If you can see the bud of red maple they are blunt and red, sugar maple are brown and sharp pointed.

anyhow I may be able to send photos if I could get this computer prob fixed... using OLD one and new one died which has camera on ... I got some good hardwood ohio trees with very varried species as the property was onece a tree farm some 30+ yrs ago.

anyhow I may be able to send photos if I could get this computer prob fixed... using OLD one and new one died which has camera on ... I got some good hardwood ohio trees with very varried species as the property was onece a tree farm some 30+ yrs ago.

mark m

You can see the bark in the 'Overwintering Trees' thread near to top of this board. Take a read through that thread and IM me if you want to contribute some photos. Credit will be acknowledged.

Sam, I'm trying to think what black poplar is. Is it black cottonwood, or balsam poplar (balm-of-gilead)? Got a latin name? I'm not trying to quiz ya, just don't know what it is.

cheers

Common names are a pain sometimes hey... Black poplar in the pics are balsam. Sorry for the confusion. Thanks for the Tobique pics. Some of it looked familiar however its going on 11 years since I have been home.

This site shows good pictures of a huge number of sawn and planed wood. once you are at the opening page you can then click on the picture of each type of wood to get more pictures of that wood. Very well done pictures.

Yes, that is a great site. I think someone posted a link to it last year as I remember browsing through it a year ago. Even some end grain of many samples, some a little closer and more focused than others, but still great pictures. I was looking at birch in particular, they had a sample of birch they were calling red birch. That is simply old growth yellow birch, I would assume since no latin name was posted for it and it looks like red or flaming birch we get in those old trees with the bark gone all platey. I was at a small circular mill one time a few years ago and they were sorting it out for figured market, not exactly figured, but it was a cherry look a like. Close encounters would reveal it wasn't cherry, but those logs were real pink on the sawed ends.

I hate to be a dissenter, but I believe that it is what was once thought to be a variety of southern red oak, cherrybark oak. The base does not have that "bell shaped" roundness that is typical of southern red oak. The Doc still takes the cake, though .

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Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5640SU, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark. hamsleyhardwood.com

I hate to be a dissenter, but I believe that it is what was once thought to be a variety of southern red oak, cherrybark oak. The base does not have that "bell shaped" roundness that is typical of southern red oak. The Doc still takes the cake, though .

Well, I do not mind being corrected, but, if it was once thought to be cherrybark oak, what's it thought to be now?

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My father once said, "This is my son who wanted to grow up and become a doctor. So far, he's only become a doctor."

You may be right, Danny, but that shape is not atypical of southern red oak in my experience. A three-lobed leaf is, however, atypical of cherrybark oak, at least from what I have seen. Not unheard of, but not typical. Which is why I think it's southern red.

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"There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." -John Ruskin

The base is all wrong. Maybe it is a Texas Mutant Southern Red Cherrybark Oak. Heck, in some places there in Texas, you can't even get pork BBQ. Now, what kind of way is that to be . That just ain't right.

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Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5640SU, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark. hamsleyhardwood.com

I've been burning this recent dead fall (came down last winter) the past few days, and it is GREAT. Burns hot, and for a long time. I don't know if I'm just enamored because I've mostly been burning walnut and it's a warmer day (high 40s), but…it's just great. I think it's red oak, but I need some confirmation.

We tore down an old barn today i was told the floor joists were chestnut there was not the bold grain i am used to seeing in older homes the growth rings were very tight but they were sawed to modern day dimensions any help would be appreciated Thanks Scott

Post a good pic showing the end grain, and we'll be able to tell much better. A thin clean-cut slice scanned on a scanner is a good way to get a pic. Most printer/scanners and computers will have that capability.

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south central Wisconsin It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Forest Trees of Maine: Centennial Issue 1908 - 2008It has color pictures of berries/fruits/seeds, bark young and old, buds, leaves, known range and other identifying characteristics. It ALSO has this nifty 'identify your tree' section (one for winter time, another for summer time)... where you answer a bunch of questions, and it narrows down what type/kind/species of tree you're trying to identify. Very very useful...

Granted... likely most useful for Canadian and north eastern US... only.

Beech came to mind to. If you know someone who weaves I have seen beech used to make weaving shuttles. I have a couple, but made by Leclerc Looms. And of course maple is used to, I've made 5 from hard maple.